A happy new year to all our members and supporters. 2018
promises to be an exciting year for the ISDE and I am looking forward to
working with you all – as individual members, associated societies, affiliated
societies and industry experts. Together we can make 2018 another successful
year for the society.

2018 brings a full agenda planned for our members and all
our stakeholders. The work of the ISDE leadership and committees is already in
full swing to make the year ahead to one of the best years in history. Let me
draw your attention to three major milestones for 2018:

The ISDE World Congress
2018 in Vienna, Austria

The Program Committee created
a highly reputable Congress program, which takes place at the University of
Vienna. This University calls Sigmund Freud, Erwin Schrodinger, Gregor Mendel,
Ernst Mach, Gustav Mahler, Ignaz Semmelweis, Paracelsus, Kurt Godel, Vincenz
Czerny, Robert Bárány and Karl Langsteiner its graduates. Live panel
discussions from key opinion leaders known around the world and abstracts and
videos will discuss the latest scientific findings! Join us for this very
special Congress and don’t miss the chance to submit your abstract before
February 19, 2018!

ISDE Website and
Scientific Content

The scientific content at the ISDE website is
constantly growing. Members of the ISDE can watch videos from the last ISDE
congresses. All interested experts in the field of the esophagus are invited to
watch the round table panel discussions on the website. Stay tuned in the
upcoming weeks and check our website regularly for new content. I don’t want
reveal to much, but another round table discussion is ready to be posted soon
and many more ideas are in the pipeline already.

Member Communication

It is the ISDE’s mission and task to actively
communicate with its members. We especially see our young researchers and
colleagues as rising stars and would like to support them as much as we can. It
is my pleasure to draw the attention to our newly established “Early Career
Physicians” page on the website. Experts of the ISDE are providing tips and
tricks in short video clips. Further steps to increase the virtual
communication with our members are planned throughout 2018 – stay tuned!

It is my pleasure to serve as your President through the
Congress in September and achieve as many goals as possible in that time.